"I'm convinced that Gareth's death was in no way linked to his work."

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Yup... totally an accident. Spies die this way all the time.

 

[Dioltach]

Yeah, I saw that. Reminds me of that bit in Blackadder: "Accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving."

 

[Kramodlog]

Happens all the time. This why I do not shave.

 

[The_Silversword]

Well, If only I had a nickel for everytime Ive accidentally locked myself in a gym bag in the bathtub.

 

[Hand of Evil]

The question I have; did they find a key?

 

[Janx]

The question I have; did they find a key?

I think that's the whole problem with the story. We're left with suspicious sounding elements, and they say despite that, "it's an accidental death" without connecting the dots for us.

So we have:
dead intelligence officer/spy
in a gym bag
in his bathtub
padlocked.

Unless this guy was a contortionist escape artist and his parents weren't proud of that, this smells like a murder and now a cover-up.

 

[Klirshon]

They had to cut the bag open. Those gashes were already on the corpse, and the knife was dirty from carving a raw, bloody steak prior to the opening of the gym bag.

 

[Janx]

They had to cut the bag open. Those gashes were already on the corpse, and the knife was dirty from carving a raw, bloody steak prior to the opening of the gym bag.

So, the guy's apartment happened to have a bloody steak on the counter and a knife next to it, and somebody used that to open the gym bag to see what was inside?

I'm assuming it wasn't the cops who found the body initially (those dudes ought to have knives or tools for crime scene stuff).

So that means:
guy was cutting steak for dinner
takes a break from that to get into a gym bag
It gets zipped up
It gets padlocked

And it's all an accident.

This is how conspiracies get started. An official declaration doesn't match the details of the known facts.

It seems too bizarre that this guy was alone and did this to himself.

It's possible a friend was over and an accident happened with a magic trick (the old break your neck while trying to auto-felate mistake) and they fled.

It's just as possible he was murdered and stuff into a bag to delay discovery or move him (and perhaps he was too heavy or that last step got aborted).

 

[Klirshon]

Perhaps the body is a very convincing decoy and the real Gareth William's faked his death to do whatever his lifelong passions/ambitions are.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Perhaps the body is a very convincing decoy and the real Gareth William's faked his death to do whatever his lifelong passions/ambitions are.

Like becoming a magician that specializes in escapes?